Color-mixing top



(No Model.)

M. BRADLEY.

COLOR MIXING TOP.

No. 537,887. Patented Apr. 23, 1895.

Unrrnn STATES PATENT Farce,

MILTON BRADLEY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

COLOR-MIXING TOP.

PEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,887, dated. April 23, 1 895.

Application fil February 16 1894- Serial No. 500,431. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON BRADLEY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Color-Mixing Tops, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in what are known as color mixing tops, that is tops having thereon segments or non-concentrio areas of various colors which, as the top is spun, are mixed, or blended, showing anew color, shade, or tint.

The object of the present invention is to produce a color top which has a capacity for greatly diversified results in color combinat1ons,-one which may be readily taken apart or knocked down so that it may occupy small space when kept in stock, or in transportation,one in which an analysis of any of g the color combinations may be demonstrated at a glance,and one in which the changes for new combinations may be most easily and quickly effected, (and without liability of soiling the faces of the color disks employed,) and in which, when the new arrangementsare effected, they will be secure against accidental derangement, and all as will become more apparent from the description and explanations hereinafter given. To the ends set forth theinvention consists in constructions and combinations of parts all substantially as below specified and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the top showing portions of the color disks broken away to expose an underlying portion of the graduated circular card-board which constitutes the body of the top. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the top with andn-dication of the manner of removing the clamping collar, or nut. Fig. 3 isa perspective representation of the stem and point or peg of the top, and of the clamptutes the shoulder, or rest, I), for the card-board body, 0. The stem is slightly tapered toward its upper end, and is preferablyturned out of wood integrally with the said lower end enlargement. The card-board body, 0, is in the form of an annulus fitted by its central hole over the base of the stem, its efficient support being had upon said rest, b. The upper marginal face of the body, 0, has the series of radial graduations, or, which may be divisional of the perimeter of the body into fractional sections including any number or degrees, or percentages of the perimeter.

d drepresent the color disks or annuli which are made of thin paper, a suitable number being provided, as for instance, one each of red, yellow, blue, green, orange, violet, black and white. that in being placed about the stem and at rest upon said body, (3, the leaf, or portion, next to the radial slit of one of the color disks comprising a greater or lesser segment of the whole may he slid through the slitof another disk so as to be overlaid by the portion thereof at one side of its slit, and in this manner segments of two or more of the color disks may be exposed. These, when set as desired, are held firmly in place by the clamping collar, D, which is of wood and is pressed with a friction-tight fit about the base of the stem, next above the enlargement, B, so that its lower end face bears and binds the disks against the body, and the latter against the seat, I), therefor.

The spinning of the top imparts the color blending rotation to the clamped disks so that a new resultant color, shade, or tint, is produoed, all as will be understood by persons familiar with the well known- Maxwell color rotating machine, or the principle thereof.

It will 'be noted that the clamping collar has the peripheral bead, or enlargement,f,at its upper end. This has been found quite important and valuable as it enables the person to so grasp the collar forits removal that only the nails of the forefinger and thumb rest upon the upper face of the disk or disks, while the balls of the finger and thumb havea rest against and under the said head whereby a lever action may be insured by such digits between and against the upper face of the top These are'slit, as seen at 6?, so

ISO

and the collar for loosening the latter from its clampingbind. Therefore the faces ofthe disks will not become soiled or blurred, and, furthermore, as no twisting motion is necessary upon the collar to release it, the disks Will not become gouged, torn, or ruptured.

The clamping collar engages the stem of the top by friction, and does not screw onto said stem. Thus the collar may be lifted or pressed down Without such a. rotating movement as would tend to disturb the relation of the color disks.

With a color rotating machine in the hands of a teacher, and a color top in thepossession of each pupil, a rudimentary instruction in color combinations may be readily induced, While the novelty and attractiveness of the device Willimmediately awake an unusual interest in the subject of color effects among persons of all ages.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The top for exhibiting colors, consisting essentially of the stem with the enlargement and point, the disk supported on said enlargement in position to support the colored sheets, and the clamping collar having a central perforation which slides vertically and engages by friction with the stem, said collar having an enlargement at its upper end, substantially as described.

MILTON BRADLEY. Witnesses:

WM. S. BELLOWS, K. I. CLEMONS. 

